Sandwatch Workshops

Many national and regional workshops have been held since the project started in 2001. The goal of these workshops was to provide training in Sandwatch methods, the Sandwatch International Database and a related Climate Change course developed in 2013. Many of the events also provided opportunities for sharing Sandwatch activities and related experiences. The major national, regional and inter-regional workshops are highlighted below.

October 17-19th, 20016: For three days The Sandwatch Foundation with the generous support of the Guyana Ministry of Education and UNESCO were pleased to hold a training workshop for more than 30 primary and high school teachers from around the country in the capital, Georgetown.Full details and amazing photos of this workshop and a trip to the world famous Kaieteur Water Falls can be found HERE

Practising Sandwatch methods in Kiribati

December 2015: A Sandwatch training workshop was held in Kiribati to train teachers and educators new to Sandwatch. This was supported by the Environmentally Sustainable Aggregates of Tarawa project. ​

Participants at the 2nd Database Training in the Dominican Republic

November 2015: Sandwatch participants reviewed their data entry and planned future activities at the 2nd Database Training Workshop in the Dominican Republic.

October 2013: Training course on Climate Change Education inside and outside the Classroom was trialed at Grahamstown, South Africa for teachers and educators from countries south of the Sahara. The course uses some of the Sandwatch methods to demonstrate past environmental changes and understand likely future environmental changes resulting from climate change

August 2012: Teachers and educators gathered in Funafuti, Tuvalu, for a Sandwatch training workshop

Practising Sandwatch in The Gambia

April 2011: Teachers and educators from The Gambia attended a Sandwatch training workshop in The Gambia

Participants at the Seychelles workshop

October 2010: Sandwatchers from the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans met in Mahe, Seychellesto share their findings and discuss ways forward

Banner for the Kiribati workshop

September 2010: Teachers and educators from Kiribati met to practise Sandwatch methods as part of the “Environmentally Sustainable Aggregates for Tarawa” (ESAT) project

Measuring beach width in Samoa

August 2010: Teachers and educators from Samoa attended a Sandwatch training workshop in Apia

Sandwatchers at Grand Anse Beach, Grenada

April 2010: Participants from primary and secondary schools in Grenada attended a Sandwatch training workshop in St. Georges, Grenada

Participants at the Cape Verde workshop

August 2009: Teachers and educators from Cape Verde Islands and four other West African countries met in Praia to learn about Sandwatch methods

Bahamas 2009 Sandwatch workshop participants

Over the week of June 21st to the 25th, 2009, representatives from The Sandwatch Foundation, UNESCO, The Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and The Turks & Caicos Islands met on Abaco, in The Bahamas for a workshop on Studying Climate Change and how it ties in with the goals of UNESCO's Education for Sustainable Development Programme. Principal funding for the event was generously provided by The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark.The second version of a revised Sandwatch Manual was tested and modified at a workshop in the Bahamas attended by representatives from several schools in the Bahamas as well as 4 other countries- Please click here for full details and amazing photos!

Logo for Youth and Climate Change Workshop

November 2008: Students and teachers from nine Caribbean countries participated in the Youth and Climate Change Workshop, Barbados, and learnt about using different media tools to create awareness about climate change. Following the workshop they continued their mission to get the word out and reached about 30,000 people

Teachers measuring sand characteristics at the workshop in Puerto Rico

August 2008: Puerto Rico held its first Sandwatch Training Workshop with 25 teachers and 15 members of the Puerto Rico Parques Nacionales to learn about Sandwatch in Boqueron, Puerto Rico

Participants at the Trinidad and Tobago Sandwatch Fair

December 2006: The Trinidad and Tobago National Commission for UNESCO hosted teachers and students from 16 Caribbean countries to share their Sandwatch activities at a Sandwatch Fair held in Trinidad

Making a wave measurement pole in Jamaica

November 2005: Teachers from around Jamaica came together at Port Royal, Jamaica, to learn about Sandwatch and how it relates to Education for Sustainable Development

July 2003: In the Second Regional Sandwatch Workshop, held in Dominica, 18 countries, including 15 from the Caribbean, as well as Cook Islands, Palau and Seychelles, participated to share their findings over the past two years on implementing Sandwatch in their countries

May 2001: In the Sandwatch First Regional Workshop, in St. Lucia,18 Caribbean countries participated and learnt about and practised the various Sandwatch methods and made commitments to continue Sandwatch with their schools. See a summary of the workshop